This is known by a lot of pb2 players but the reason for "tanking bullets" in game can be due to the damage multiplier to a player with their swords (slot 0) selected. For this reason, it's usually better to take a shot to the arms when they are extended holding a gun (in eric gurt-railwars for example, the lite railgun).
Here is the damage to each part of the body including the multiplier for swords out vs. gun out.
http://prntscr.com/saemzb
Spreadsheet created by BoZ members; Krytrephex and michaelhero using the data from an archived website of Eric Gurt's. The link to this website is
https://web.archive.org/web/20151106092210/freetexthost.com/sqr4rr0mbb
It includes useful data on the damage output of guns and other stuffs in game.
Notes:
- The weapons that are represented in the spreadsheet include all guns that equal power 1.3. This includes the default weapons "Pistol C-01p" and "Alien Rifle".